5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I can not reside with out

Windows 11
boasts quite a lot of

useful tools and tricks
that customers can simply entry while not having to put in extra apps or software program. If you happen to’re new to Home windows 11 or desperate to discover contemporary methods to make the most of Microsoft’s newest working system, you are in the precise place.

If you happen to’re trying to work together seamlessly together with your

phone on your PC
, seize screenshots or recordings, and handle a number of home windows extra effectively, Home windows 11 presents a variety of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Beneath are 5 lesser-known (and underrated) instruments that I depend on day by day to reinforce my Home windows 11 expertise and workflow.

5

Cellphone Hyperlink

Ship texts and make calls out of your PC

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

If you happen to’re coming from macOS, the Home windows Cellphone Hyperlink software is an identical expertise to utilizing iMessage in your Mac. If you wish to entry your cellphone’s messages and notifications in your PC, make calls, or share information,

Windows 11 Phone Link
can try this and rather more.

To start utilizing Cellphone Hyperlink, merely seek for it within the Home windows search bar. From there, open the app and begin the setup course of with both an Android machine or an iPhone. Then, scan the QR code on the app and observe the setup directions. You may then join your smartphone to your PC through Bluetooth and customise the notification settings accordingly.

Cellphone Hyperlink mechanically connects to your smartphone everytime you boot up your Home windows PC. I discover Cellphone Hyperlink handy for making cellphone calls on my PC and responding to textual content messages on the fly with out pulling my cellphone out of my pocket.

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Take the proper screenshot

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Subsequent up is a software I depend on most whereas utilizing Home windows 11: the Snipping Tool. If you happen to’re unfamiliar with it, it is primarily used for taking screenshots. I take advantage of it day by day to rapidly seize the screenshots I would like for work, because it permits me to pick which a part of my display screen to seize. You too can use the Snipping Instrument to take display screen recordings, which I steadily do each time I must doc one thing occurring on my laptop, reminiscent of when troubleshooting a difficulty.

To open the Snipping Instrument, press the Print Display screen (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you’ll find it utilizing Home windows search. As soon as it is open, within the prime bar, you’ll be able to select to take both screenshots or recordings. There are additionally 4 totally different modes you’ll be able to select from: rectangle, window, full display screen, or free kind. I take advantage of rectangle mode once I must seize a particular a part of my display screen, and I take advantage of full display screen once I wish to take a screenshot of my complete display screen, reminiscent of when enjoying a sport.

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Certainly one of my favourite Home windows 11 instruments flies beneath the radar for a lot of customers, despite the fact that it is accessible on the taskbar from the second you boot up Home windows 11 for the primary time. That characteristic is Virtual Desktops, which lets you create separate desktop environments in your PC. If you happen to steadily use your PC for work and leisure, this can be a nice solution to separate the 2.

I at all times have two digital desktops operating: one with all my work purposes open, reminiscent of Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I take advantage of in my downtime, reminiscent of Steam, Discord, and Spotify. This characteristic not solely retains me centered but additionally helps me declutter my desktop by displaying solely the apps I would like at that second.

To entry Digital Desktops your self, you’ll be able to click on the overlapping rectangles within the taskbar after which choose New Desktop. On the Digital Desktops display screen, you’ll be able to handle all of the apps you might have opened on a specific desktop and transfer apps between your totally different desktop environments. You too can rename them to make them simpler to maintain monitor of. If you wish to swap between totally different desktop environments rapidly, hit Win+Ctrl +Left/Proper Arrow to navigate between them.

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2

Snap Layouts

Multitask like a professional

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

If you happen to multitask steadily in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will change into your finest pal for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display screen. Whereas the Snap characteristic has been out there since Home windows 7, it obtained a major improve in Home windows 11 with the introduction of Snap Layouts, which lets you select from numerous structure choices to prepare your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see totally different structure choices. Alternatively, once you seize a window, you’ll be able to drag it to the highest of your display screen to view numerous Snap Structure decisions. The structure I usually use divides two apps evenly on my display screen, which I discover particularly useful whereas researching, as I can cut up my display screen between the doc I am analyzing and my notes.

I additionally make the most of Snap Layouts on my second monitor to evenly divide apps, like Spotify and Slack, whereas engaged on my principal monitor. The variety of structure decisions out there depends upon the scale of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch screens, and Home windows supplies me with 9 totally different Snap Structure choices on every. Nonetheless, on my 16-inch Asus Zenbook laptop computer, I solely get 5.

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1

Dynamic Lock

Preserve your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

If in case you have a behavior of strolling away out of your laptop with out locking it, this software can assist shield your PC from prying eyes. It is known as Dynamic Lock, and it really works by mechanically locking your PC once you distance your self from it by detecting the Bluetooth connection out of your cellphone. If you happen to work in an workplace constructing, this characteristic may be particularly useful in case you overlook to lock your PC.

To allow Dynamic Lock, navigate to Settings > Accounts > Signal-in choices > Dynamic Lock. Whenever you flip it on, Home windows will immediate you to pick a Bluetooth machine for the characteristic to perform. Dynamic Lock is separate from Cellphone Hyperlink, so you will have to pick your cellphone as a Bluetooth machine once more for it to work.

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